page_title: Francisco de Almeida
section_title: Viceroy in India
hierarchical_section_title: Francisco de Almeida / Mission to the east / Viceroy in India
caption_attribution_description: Kannur Fort
context_page_description: Dom Francisco de Almeida, also known as "the Great Dom Francisco", was a Portuguese nobleman, soldier and explorer. He distinguished himself as a counsellor to King John II of Portugal and later in the wars against the Moors and in the conquest of Granada in 1492. In 1505 he was appointed as the first governor and viceroy of the Portuguese State of India. Almeida is credited with establishing Portuguese hegemony in the Indian Ocean, with his victory at the naval Battle of Diu in 1509. Before Almeida could return to Portugal, he lost his life in a conflict with indigenous people at the Cape of Good Hope in 1510. His only son Lourenço de Almeida was previously killed in the Battle of Chaul.
context_section_description: On 25 March 1505, Francisco de Almeida was appointed Viceroy of India, on the condition that he would set up four forts on the south western Indian coast: at Anjediva Island, Cannanore, Cochin and Quilon. Francisco de Almeida left Portugal with a fleet of 22 vessels with 1,500 men.
  On 13 September, Francisco de Almeida reached Anjadip Island, where he immediately started the construction of Fort Anjediva. On 23 October, he started, with the permission of the friendly ruler Kōlattiri, the building of St. Angelo Fort in Cannanore, leaving Lourenço de Brito in charge with 150 men and two ships.
  Francisco de Almeida then reached Cochin on 31 October 1505, with only 8 vessels left. There he learnt that the Portuguese traders at Quilon had been killed. He decided to send his son Lourenço with 6 ships, who wantonly destroyed 27 Calicut vessels in the harbour of Quilon. Almeida took up residence in Cochin. He strengthened the Portuguese fortifications of Fort Manuel on Cochin.
  The Zamorin of Calicut prepared a large fleet of 200 ships to oppose the Portuguese, but in March 1506 his son Lourenço de Almeida intercepted Zamorin's fleet in a sea battle at the entrance to the harbour of Cannanore, the Battle of Cannanore, and inflicted heavy losses. Hereupon Lourenço de Almeida explored the coastal waters southwards to Colombo, modern Sri Lanka. Meanwhile, the Zamorin succeeded in convincing the Kōlattiri of Cannanore of the true imperialistic motives of Portuguese in Kerala. The Kōlattiri was already annoyed and angered with the Portuguese for their violation of the safe conduct guaranteed to the ships of Muslim merchants of Cannanore. The Kōlattiri put up a common fight against the Portuguese besieging Fort St. Angelo at the Siege of Cannanore.
  In 1507 Almeida's mission was strengthened by the arrival of Tristão da Cunha's squadron. Afonso de Albuquerque's squadron had however split from that of Cunha off east Africa and was independently conquering territories to the west.
  In March 1508, at the request of the Arab merchants of Calicut, an Egyptian fleet under the command of Amir Husain Al-Kurdi (Mir Hussain) of the Mameluk Egyptian attacked and defeated the Portuguese squadron under command of Lourenço de Almeida at Chaul in the Battle of Chaul. Lourenço de Almeida was killed in this battle and led to a temporary retreat by the Portuguese from the Indian waters.
  Afonso de Albuquerque arrived at Cannanore at the close of 1508 and immediately made known an hitherto secret commission he had received from the King empowering him as governor to replace Almeida at the end of his term as viceroy. Almeida, determined to avenge the death of his son and free the Portuguese prisoners taken at Chaul, refused to recognize Albuquerque's credentials immediately, and later arrested him.
  In 1509, Almeida became the first Portuguese to arrive by ship in Bombay. He sought Meliqueaz, to whom he had written a menacing letter, and the Mameluk Mirocem, fiercely engaging them at the naval Battle of Diu on 3 February 1509 commanding a fleet of 23 ships near the port of Diu. He inflicted a decisive defeat on a joint fleet from the Mamlûk Burji Sultanate of Egypt, the Ottoman Empire, the Zamorin of Calicut, and the Sultan of Gujarat, with technical naval support from the Republic of Venice and the Republic of Ragusa (Dubrovnik), that feared for its eastern trade links.
  His victory was decisive: the Ottomans and Egyptians left the Indian Ocean, enabling Portuguese trade monopoly over Indian waters for over 100 years, into the 17th century when it was ended by the Dutch and English. Albuquerque was released after three-month confinement, on the arrival of the grand-marshal of Portugal with a large fleet, in November 1509.
caption: Fort St. Angelo, Cannanore
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